Lemassena



(No Model.) h 4 STANLEY & TQPJ LEMASSENA.

' MANUFACTURE OF PORTION OF A HARNESS.

No. 293,535, Patented Feb. 12,1884.

UNITED STATES PATENT-Clarice.

AssIeNon-s, BY PLAoE. I

MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO LILLIAN LEMASSE NA, F

MANUFACTUREOFPORTIONS OF A HARNESS.

SPECIFICATION forming partjof Letters Patent No. 293,535, dated February 12,1884.

' Application filed July 20,1883. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAS. STANLEY and T. F. LnM'nssENn, citizens of the United States,

residing in Newark, Essex county, New'Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Harness Manufacture, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to the formation of certain parts of} harness and other analogous articles of a composition of scrap-leather protected from moisture by coating with a layer or covering of water-proof material.

The inventionis applicable to all those parts oftheharness as collars, cruppers, saddles, trees, blinds, rosettes, trotting balls, &c. which do notrequire a combination of great flexibility and strength, and is shown in the drawings annexed as applied to a horse-collar with certain modifications. The method of manufacture will be described in reference to the collar shown, but would be precisely similar in connection with any other part ofthe harness. V

The process of manufacture we employ pro= duces a perfectly solid and firm texture in the various articles of harness, and their durability is secured by baking or otherwise drying a water-proof composition upon the surface of the article in such a manner as to form a seamless unbroken coating over its entire surface. The baking operation and the heat employed therein also tend to saturate the fibrous texture of the article with water-proof material, so as to secure the utmost permanence in the effects ofthe coating applied to the surface of the article to protect it from moisture.

The process of manufacture is as follows: A suitable mold, formed in several detachable parts, (so as to release the finished article,) is provided, and any kind of leather scraps are pasted together therein with an admixture of any suitable cement until the articleis formed I of the desired shape.

In the case of all rounded articlesas for instance, the collar shown in the drawings-4t is necessary to compress the article thus shaped in a second or finishingmold to give it the smoothness and final form desired. I The arti- 5o cle maybe partially dried before it is subjected to such finishing-mold, and is then better fitted to take a smooth surface and to retain the acquired form.

I11 the case of flat or rectangular articles it is obvious that the pasting or shaping mold may be used as the pressing or finishing mold; but in such case the mold performs two distinct functions, and the pasting and final pressing are equally distinct operations. For the pasting-mold we use plasterof-paris, but prefer metal for the final mold, although the plaster mold is sometimes used. NVhen fully pressed, the article is dried, either in or out of the mold, and when freed from volatile fluids its surface is coated with a water-proof composition capable of protecting the substance from atmospheric influences. Japan or indiarubber varnish is most suitable for the purpose, and when such agents are used the arti- 7o ole is preferably baked in an oven at such temperature as is required to harden the japan or vulcanize the india-rubber, and when the surface is thus coated with an unbroken shell of water-proof material the article is adapted to endure great exposure to weather with very little and slow deterioration.

In the preparations of fabric or artificial leather compounded from leather scraps heretofore, the cement employed has usually been of such a nature-as paste or gluetlhat moisture would readily penetrate the edges or surface of the fabric and disintegrate the same by destroying the adhesive power of the cement; but our invention obviates this defect, which exists in artificial leather or compounds of scraps, by molding the article directly of the required form, without any joints, in one single piece, and by coating the entire surface of each required piece with a water proof 9o material, which is preferably baked upon and into the article.

In the drawings annexed, Figure 1 is a transverse section, and Fig. 2 is a rear view,

The section is taken on line a; w in Fig. 2.

of a horse'collar constructed as last described.

A is he ce lar, n B 2) indica e the scraps of leather which form the body of the article, the same being compressed into close contact with each other, especially upon the outer parts of the substance, where it con esinto contact with the shaping agents and receives the pressure. By such molding and pressure the entire artic e i onsolidat d into substantially a single piece, and possesses a.

degree of strength not belonging to its separate fragments atall.

It will be seen from the above that our in; I

.jfinished' in the desired form before the final coating of water-proof material is dried into and upon it. 1

' When the article is to be protected by japan, it is preferably dipped into the latter, an'dthe heat subsequently applied tends to saturate the porous parts of the article with the japan, so that its substance remains waterproof when abraded or cut.

' WVith the japan coating any suitable cemen may be used in uniting the scraps, and when pressed in molds and finished with a highlypolished 'coat of japan they are readily recognized as new articles of manufacture, from the unusual firmness and solidity of their texture and great resistance to wear and moisture.

WVe are fully aware that it is notnew to unite scraps of leather by paste or cement, and that such materials have been formed into fiat sheets and worked up into insoles for shoes. We are also aware that a patent was issued to'O. Nichols on December 14, 1875, for the combination ofleather scraps and alkaline rosin paste compressed into a uniform layer, and do not therefore make any claim to artificial leather in sheets. ever, differs from others, first, in producing the desired article in the required shape without scams or joints by molding the scrap to the proper form; and, second, in coating the Surface w th Water p oo mat r al, so that neither the scraps nor cement may be disintegrated by exposure to the air and moisture. These differences forming the essential part of our improvement, it is" obviously immaterial how the article is pressed to its final form,

.whether by dies, molds, or rollers, or howthe water-proof material is applied and secured to the article. The baking referred to herein is not therefore an essential stepin our process, although requisite if hard japans are used.

Vtith india-rubber varnish and other volatile varnishes and paints, no baking in an oven would be required to dry the coating properly. v

Ve therefore claim our invention as follows:

1. The process herein shown and described for manufacturing certain parts of harness from leather scraps, which consists, first, in pastin the scraps together with cement in a suitable mold; second, in pressing the same in a finishing-mold; third, .in freeing the pressed article from its moisture; and, fourth,

in applying a water-proof coating to the surface and drying the same thereon, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A horse-collar or other analogous articles of harness formed of scraps of leather, united by suitable cement and pressed to their finished form, and having a coating of waterproof material, substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES STANLEY. THEODORE F. LEMASSENA. \Vitnesses:

THos. S. CRANE, HENRY THEBERATH.

Our invention, how- 

